A Meeting of the Mods

Over the last few months the Toronto collective Prize Budget for Boys has attracted attention online and off for their project Pac-Mondrian, which transplants the game of Pac-Man into the similarly blippy grid of 1943 hit painting Broadway Boogie Woogie. In their update, Pac-Man's chomping is underscored by the kind of jazzy tune that inspired Mondrian, and each pod consumed triggers a syncopated hi-hat or other percussive flare. Players can put themselves inside the art online, as well as in person through the life-sized arcade cabinet that is currently on the Let's Play Art World Tour. With the conclusion of a recent stop at Toronto's Art Metropole, the artists have kicked off the sale of Pac-Mondrian merch, which appropriately aims to clone and cash in on their creation with such collectors items as authenticated proofs, postcards, and the forthcoming Pac-Mondrian Vacuum Cleaner. - Kevin McGarry